Chương 651: 90
Date
2011 May 15th - Saturday - Earth Bet Time
People watched as the giant lightning construct seized up for a moment, then exploded into million tiny motes of light, raining down into the sea, disappearing on contact. The only thing left was Lux Arcana, and the perceptive of those who were watching (which was everybody) could see that she was flying rather listlessly.
Still silent, the gathered parahumans watched as Lux Arcana slowly flew down to the corpse of the Endbringer, then flew up high, and vanished in a now-familiar flash.
People, still silent as the grave, trying to comprehend that what has happened was very much real, looked at each other and wondered what they should do.
One second, they were preparing for an incoming wave and probably a fight for their lives with the second Endbringer. Then the next second, it was dead.
A parahuman broke the silence by yelling incomprehensibly and dancing weirdly.
That started an avalanche, and soon the assorted parahumans and support personnel were celebrating, hugging each other and simply crying tears of relief, knowing that Leviathan was dead.
Not soon after, the entire area descended into chaos as people let loose.
Date
2011 May 15th - Saturday - Earth Bet Time
Ethan was happy.
And a little worried.
When he was first stationed in Brockton Bay, he read up on all the parahumans in the city, and if a new one appeared, he did the same, going so far as to reach out to his old contacts if the Protectorate database didn't contain enough data about them.
That meant he was perfectly aware of Lung's accomplishments concerning Leviathan. So, as everyone was hugging each other, he was watching the infamous villain.
What would he do, now that somebody took out the Endbringer he could not stop? Would he rage and destroy, or would he accept it silently?
As people continued to celebrate, Lung stood up, nodded to himself, then looked around. Ethan met his eyes, and a villain nodded at him, then took out a cigarette, lit it with a snap of his fingers, and ambled out of the building, absentmindedly dodging the people jumping around.
He had to stop thinking about Lung, because his wife found him and enveloped him in a hug, and it was his private opinion that a real man never refuses a hug from a pretty woman, especially if that pretty woman was the man's wife.
Date
2011 May 15th - Saturday - Earth Bet Time
Danny stared at the screen, where it still showed the still corpse of the Endbringer, and tried to formulate something resembling thoughts.
After a few seconds of blank staring, his first thought was that his daughter survived. The next was that Leviathan was dead. And very next one, and the hardest to accept, was that his daughter, his Taylor, killed it.
He couldn't even imagine what the consequences would be.
Danny was still sitting on the sofa, drenched in sweat, and shaking slightly, thinking circular thoughts, when the door rattled a little, then opened.
He jumped in fright, totally forgetting that the only people who could get through the defenses without activating them were Taylor, Tess, and him. Turning towards the entrance, he saw her daughter stagger into the house, carelessly closing the door behind her, walking to the table, dropping something heavy, while not really seeing anything, or acknowledging him.
Danny watched silently as, after the brief detour to the table, his daughter continued to stagger up the stairs towards her room. He followed her wordlessly.
She stopped in front of her bed, still deaf to the outside world, with mechanical motion kicked off her armored boots, then fell face-first into the bed. The next second, Danny could hear her soft snores.
He smiled slightly, maneuvered the blanket out from under her, removed the helmet off her after a brief struggle, and then covered Taylor with the blanket, and as quietly as possible, left the room while closing the door.
Watching his steps, he walked back down to the living room, curious to see what Taylor dropped off on the coffee table.
Walking closer, he could see it was shiny and slightly wet, soaking the newspaper under it. Picking up, he noted it was metallic to the touch, but also very smooth.
It took him a second to realize what it actually was.
Scales.
Scales of Leviathan.
Date
2011 May 15th - Saturday - Earth Bet Time
Emily was back in her recently evacuated office, listening as Dragon was giving a press conference, and happily ignoring all the incoming calls from 'very important' people. It was not like she knew more than everybody else, so she didn't see the point of subjecting herself to them.
Dragon was on the same podium that Panacea created for Legend to do his customary speech, but instead, it was repurposed for the press conference, when after Leviathan's death the journalist poured back into the city like a tidal wave of locusts.
The first few questions were softballs about the shields and wall system, as if the journalist were afraid that if they asked about the battle suddenly it would resurrect the Endbringer.
Finally, one of the 'braver' vultures posed a question that made her perk up and pay attention.
"Miss Richter, may we know why Lux Arcana hadn't used the final attack at the beginning of the fight? Why delay it?"
Emily very much admired Dragon's restraint at the implied insult, as the woman simply gave a small smile before answering.
"The answer is very simple. Lux Arcana left the battle site immediately after the use of that power because not a few seconds later she collapsed. She is currently trying to sleep the exertion off. And the reason she hadn't used it at the beginning? She wanted to be sure she could hit the Endbringer with it."
The next second was very predictable.
"So, is Lux Arcana alright?"
"Yes. She is healthy and with no wounds. She is simply utterly exhausted."
The question then became even bolder, some of them asking for Lux Arcana's identity so they could thank her personally. Emily had to snort when she heard that. Listening for a little more, she realized that there would be no more actionable information coming from the conference, so she lowered the volume, but still leaving it in the background just in case and reluctantly towards her computer.
When she arrived back at her office, pleasantly noting that the battle had no effect on it, she had to mute the notification sound, because messages and emails kept coming so fast that her speakers were ringing constantly.
And they were still coming in.
Reluctantly, Emily began filtering them out, trying to find the important ones because apparently everyone felt that their email was top priority and marked them as such.
She was about to open one that seemed as contained more than questions about Lux Arcana when her phone speaker turned on.
"Director Piggot, Alexandria is h-here to see you."
Noting her secretary's nervous delivery, she suspected Alexandria wasn't gentle with her request. With a scowl on her face, she pushed the talk button.
"Send her in. And call Armsmaster."
"Yes, Director."
By the time the exchange was finished, Alexandria was striding into the office as if she owned it. The heroine looked around, looking for who knows what, then rested her eyes on her. Emily returned the look with her own, trying to convey how much she didn't want to have this meeting.
Alexandria said nothing, just closed the door behind her, and stepped before her desk, completely ignoring the chairs.
Knowing she wouldn't like the conversation, she silently activated the voice recorder with her knees that she had Armsmaster install recently. She had a slight feeling that having a recording of this conversation would be handy in the near future.
"Piggot."
"Alexandria."
They stared at each other for a few seconds, neither of them wanting to start the conversation. Though Emily considered speaking up if it meant the other woman would leave her office sooner. Fortunately, it seemed Alexandria wasn't her usual self and broke the silence first.
"Lux Arcana. What do you know about her?"
"Nothing that everyone else doesn't. She doesn't patrol or engage in the usual parahuman activities. She doesn't post on social media, and the only contact is through Dragon."
"I want you to find her."
"With all due respect, how? And why?"
"We need her. The moment people get over the celebration they will be trying to poach her for their side. Be it villains or other countries. I don't want to lose someone this useful. So, as she lives in this city, I want you to find her, find out what she wants, and give it to her."
Emily considered telling the heroine that she wasn't taking orders from her, but then she realized it would just prolong the conversation. Instead, she just continued to stare at the other woman silently, watching as the woman dug an even deeper hole for herself.
Alexandria, not noticing or ignoring how she felt about the 'order', continued to speak.
"I will personally talk to the Chief Director, and she will make sure you will get every resource possible to achieve this."
"It would mean, we would have to go against Dragon," warned Emily.
Alexandria just waved dismissively.
"She is not American, so the Chief Director can make sure that she couldn't interfere."
One of Emily's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Don't look at me like that, Emily. You know as well, that we need her on our side, helping us."
Emily wondered, based on this conversation, what exactly Alexandria was smoking, because she was pretty sure that Lux Arcana's every action was about helping them deal with issues that they had trouble dealing with for the past who knows how many years.
She could understand basic paranoia. After all, she also had some thoughts that maybe now that Lux Arcana established herself as a parahuman capable of taking out an Endbringer, she would turn that same power towards acquiring other kinds of power.
But on second thought, she realized it was ludicrous. If Lux Arcana and Serenity were actually the same people as analysts seemed to suggest, then she had more political power in her left pinky than the Chief Director.
Plus, as much as she hated parahumans, she at least respected Dragon enough to know she wouldn't be friends with someone who wanted to destroy the world or take it over.
"I understand Alexandria. As soon as the Chief Director gives me the order, I will begin the preparations."
Best not to agree to anything for now.
Alexandria stared at her for a few seconds, while she looked back, her face blank while thinking about how much she wanted to shoot the other woman.
Finally, the heroine nodded.
"Fine. Expect the call soon."
With that the Brute turned around on a dime, harshly opened the door, and strode out, ignoring Armsmaster as he stood to attention.
Emily shook her head, quickly saved the sound file to a few secure sites, then called out.
"Come in, Armsmaster, and close the door behind you!"
The man obeyed without question.
She ignored him for a few seconds and clicked on a link. The screen on the wall came alive, and after ringing exactly three times, Dragon's face appeared on it.
"Director Piggot? I wasn't expecting a call."
"Me neither, but I want both of you to listen to something."
And with that, she started playing the recording of the conversation that just ended.
Date
2011 May 15th - Saturday - Earth Bet Time
Alexandria knew it was heavy-handed with Piggot, and would probably pay for it later, but she was running out of options. Nothing the Watchdog or Contessa did could get them closer to the New Entity. But now they had a reason (probably not legal, but she was beyond caring) to approach the only physical link (that they knew about) to the Entity.
Because after all the circumstantial evidence it was evident that Lux Arcana was working on behalf of this Entity. Unfortunately, they had no concrete evidence, but nothing else made sense.
With Contessa's power changing, their protection against other Thinkers and people looking for them was fraying at the edges, and soon it would probably collapse.
She doubted she would be the Chief Director by the end of the year with how things were going, so she needed to collect as much information as she could before she lost the position.
As she flew high in the air and asked for a portal, she shuddered, thinking how much work was waiting for her back in her office.
Date
2011 May 16th - Sunday - Earth Bet Time
He sat cross-legged on a cushion as he looked at the older man sitting across from him as he reviewed the document he hastily put together.
"Can it be done?"
The man seemed to deliberate a little, but then answered.
"My equipment is old, I don't think I can…"
He waved his hand dismissively, stopping the man.
"Just write down what you need. I will get everything."
The man considered the answer, then nodded.
"Then I shall do my best."
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